Quick Hits: Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS recently issued temporary regulations that provide an immediately effective framework for establishing and administering “Trump Accounts,” including broad automatic enrollment and large-scale contributions funded by governmental and charitable donors. The regulations became effective September 30, 2026, apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and expire September 30, 2029.

The IRS has released Revenue Procedure 2026-24, establishing new inflation-adjusted limits for Health Savings Accounts and high-deductible health plans effective in 2027. These updates include increased contribution limits, higher minimum deductibles, and expanded out-of-pocket maximums, along with new provisions for direct primary care service arrangements under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. How will these changes impact employee benefit planning and healthcare coverage strategies?

On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the Allegheny County Council passed legislation requiring employers with at least 15 workers to provide 12 weeks of paid parental leave, ending months-long debate on the proposal. We previously reported on the initial 18-week proposal in May 2026 (summarized here), the revised proposed legislation (summarized here), and the Allegheny County Board of Health passing the legislation (summarized here). The measure was passed in an 11-4 vote. It will become effective in one year, as County Executive Sara Innamorato signed the bill on, October 22, 2026.

The Trump Administration has launched an unprecedented enforcement action suspending permanent labor certification processing for eight major employers, linking immigration sponsorship to layoff histories and recruitment practices. This development signals a fundamental shift in how the government evaluates employer access to H-1B and green card programs, with investigations already underway and subpoenas served.

Maryland employers must comply with new posting requirements under the Worker Freedom Act, which prohibits penalizing employees who decline attendance at employer-sponsored meetings on religious or political matters. The Maryland Department of Labor has released official notices in English and Spanish that must be displayed prominently in workplaces and provided to new hires starting November 1, 2026.

Donald Dowling says abusive labor practices are a huge problem around the world, and often the smaller local manufacturers, miners and growers within countries that are committing labor...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security published a final rule that will shift the H-1B cap registration selection process from a random lottery to a weighted selection process...

Illinois employers face new requirements for Equal Pay Registration Certificate submissions as the state Department of Labor eliminates the "prefers not to identify" option for employee demographic data. Starting January 1, 2027, businesses must report definitive sex and race information for all employees, raising questions about data collection methods and compliance strategies.

On October 19, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-1, formally withdrawing three opinion letters that served as the foundation for the so-called “80/20 Rule” governing tipped employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL also confirmed that its current enforcement guidance does not impose a percentage-based limit on the time a tipped employee may spend performing related, non-tip-producing duties. Instead, the inquiry focuses on whether the employee’s duties are related to the employee’s tipped occupation.

The Department of Labor has reversed course on its controversial proposal to remove over 450 long-standing Fair Labor Standards Act interpretations from federal regulations. What does this mean for employers who have relied on these familiar guidelines for decades to ensure wage and hour compliance? The withdrawal brings stability to industries like retail, construction, and motor carriers...

A health insurance company announced today that it has been the victim of a sophisticated cyber-attack and data breach of information of current and former covered persons.

On Jan. 21, 2025, President Donald Trump, alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, announced a private sector plan to invest billions of dollars.

Yesterday three important regulatory developments occurred in the clean energy space.

Since its independence in 1991 Kazakhstan has been rapidly developing to become a country with a market economy establishing and strengthening its economic and trade ties with foreign countries, encouraging foreign investment, and liberalizing trade.

Kazakhstan's commercial banking sector has grown dramatically in recent years.

Renovus Capital Partners has announced the acquisition of Superior Health Holdings.

If a county, city or town contributes a pollutant of concern to a waterbody it may need to modify its municipal stormwater management program to meet state and federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) regulations. Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and the Virginia Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) will require MS4 communities to make improvements and retrofits to existing stormwater management programs.

On Feb. 6, 2012, UK-based medical device company Smith & Nephew settled a civil and criminal investigation of alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by agreeing to pay a total of $22.6 million and committing to certain measures designed to reduce the possibility of repeat conduct.

The article was based on a July 21 Subject to Inquiry blog post by Alex and Ryan that was published under the same title at www.subjecttoinquiry.com.

David Nexon, senior executive vice president at AdvaMed, defended the FDA's 510(k) process for medical devices after the process was recently criticized by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.